376 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



June 



and Guising-er, and the lady friends present, all took 

 a view of Mr. Guising-er's apiary, which is but a 

 short distance from Mr. Boulton's. This apiary con- 

 tains some thirty or forty colonies, and shows by its 

 condition that its owner has not been asJeep. 



All then returned to Mr. Boulton's, and the third 

 hive was transferred in about 15 minutes. The re- 

 mainder of the pi-ogramme was carried out by dif- 

 ferent parties. P. M. Br.AKEMAN, Sec. 

 ■ Ottawa, O., May, 1884. 



WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU WANT HON- 

 EY BATHER THAN BEES. 



PROF. COOK GIVES US SOME IDEAS IN REOARD TO 

 RESTRAINING INCREASE. 



HAVE just been reading- in the Eural that Prof. 

 Cook recommends putting new swarms into 

 other hives, to prevent increase. Now, if not 

 asking too much, please inform me how he 

 does it without having the old colony destroy 

 the new. E. E. Babcock. 



Elroy, Juneau Co., Wis., May 12, 1884. 



Prof. Cook replies as follows: 



For several years now we have prevented inci-ease 

 of colontes when desired, with few exceptions. In 

 nearly all experience with bees, rules have quite 

 enough exceptions to verify them. Our method, as 

 g-iven in the Rural New-Yoi-kcr several years ago, is 

 as follows: Our first colony that swarms leaves 

 hive No. 1, and is hived in a new hive. This, of 

 course, gives one increase. Swarm No. 2 is hived in 

 hive No. 1, after the queen-cells in the latter are all 

 carefully destroyed. The few bees now in this hive 

 make it easy and quick work to find and destroy 

 cvcm queen-cell. After swarm No. 2 is given to 

 this hive, the latter will contain the old brood with 

 the few bees left in the hive, and the second swarm 

 with its queen. Thus the colony is just as strong as 

 before, only, as the bees are in a new hive, and in a 

 changed position, they seem satisfied, and will pro- 

 ceed to the business of storing, and the swarming 

 impulse will be cui-ed, and will very likely not ap- 

 pear again if proper room is given. When colony 

 No. 3 swarms, the swarm is hived in hive No. (2), 

 colony 4 in hive 3, etc. 



Sometimes, rarely, this has failed to bring success. 

 In such cases I think it is likely the hive was suf- 

 fered to become overcrowded; or, from lack of 

 shade, possibly overheated. Unless sufficient room 

 is given by extracting, or by giving abundant sec- 

 tions, swarming will always occur in times of a 

 great honey-flow. It is also true, that colonies will 

 swarm out of hives which are overheated, so that 

 these two points are to be carefully heeded or else 

 the above method will not avail. The leaving of a 

 queen-cell may also tend to disquiet the bees; but 

 on the whole, this plan is one of the best, if we de- 

 sire to leave the queens in all the hives, and at the 

 same time preclude increase of colonies. 



Lansing, Mich., May 31, 1884. A. J. Cook. 



Thanks, friend C. I believe the above 

 answers nicely, unless the bees get the 

 swarming mania, such as friends Hasty, 

 Uoolittle, and others have written about. In 

 that case they overstep all the rules laid 

 down, and do about as they please, even to 

 swarming without the queen— at least, I be- 

 lieve some claim they do. So far as reports 

 are concerned, I believe the above process, 

 as you say, about the best plan we have, es- 

 pecially for one who has had but little ex- 

 perience in the matter. 



BEE CULTURE IN KANSAS. 

 Another Plea for Hybrids. 



FROM ONE TO 13 BY NATURAL SWARMING. 



tJTE submit our report for last season. We 

 closed the season with 46 colonies ( 14 colo- 

 nics spi'ing count), and 2.500 lbs. of honey, 

 mostly extracted. Last fall we sold eleven 

 colonies, leaving us 3.5, all of which winter- 

 ed in good condition. Two colonies were queenless; 

 12 were wintered in the cellar, and the rest on their 

 summer stands, and all protected with chaff above, 

 and hay packed around the hives. Those wintered 

 in the cellar came through about twenty per cent 

 the best, although our cellar is a very cold one. 

 The mercery stood between 30 and 40° the most of 

 the time, and at one time as low as 28. 



From our experience and observation last year, 

 W. Z. Hutchinson said in Gleanings, some time 

 early last autumn, just about what we were going- 

 to say. That is, we do not want any more metal- 

 cornered frames in ours; that hybrids are the best 

 workers in the sections, and that natural swarms 

 have the "get up and get "to fetch in the honey, 

 and are not half the trouble of any other means of 

 increase that we have ever tried. Last season we 

 started out to work for increase in the main, but we 

 didn't intend to refuse any surplus honey. We did 

 not expect to get nearly as much in the outset as we 

 did. We made a few nuclei in May, about the same 

 time the bees swarmed. We did not take brood to 

 build up the nuclei. We kept them booming by 

 feeding till the first of June; and fi-om that time on 

 until about the first of August, they made enough 

 to live on. Then came heart's-ease, which lasted 

 about 4 weeks, and from which we obtained our 

 surplus. 



Another thing we wish to say in favor of hybrids 

 over the pure Italians. With the former, in future, 

 we shall not feel so nervous when the sections are 

 ready to cap, fearing they will come out, as we shall 

 when the Italians are in the sections. With us they 

 swarm too much; for instance, one pure Italian 

 queen came out with four swarms during the sea- 

 son, as follows: May 24, June 28, July 12, Aug. 26. 

 This queen and her swarms increased to 13 strong- 

 colonies, and they would have probably increased 

 to 20, but we stopped several swarms by taking 

 their queen-cells, extracting all their honey, and 

 scattering their brood in the upper and lower sto- 

 ries. We couldn't keep this strain of bees in the 

 sections until they were finished, at all. The old 

 queen of this lot left the sections mostly full of 

 brood on difl'ercnt times — the only instancy we ev- 

 er found brood in the sections. We had, during the 

 season, 20 natural swarms. We gave a frame of 

 brood to some of the first swarms, but not all ; lost 

 more by absconding. The first swarm came out the 

 24th of May; the last swarm, the 10th of September; 

 highest yield of extracted honey from one colony, 

 20S lbs. (1 hybrid May swarm), 72 lbs. in 1-lb. sections. 

 Best yield was made by a second swarm, which 

 came out the 3d of June, so you see an after-swarm 

 in May or June in this locality is not to be grinned 

 at, if they have a good queen. Bro. Root, don't you 

 think we had good luck? If there was any luck, I 

 know we had to work mighty hard for it, and put- 

 ting out feeders after almost every one had gone to 

 bed, and taking them up at daylight, sponging off the 



